The Son of Neptune
by Vesenia
Summary: Percy wakes up in a unfamiliar place that turns out to be a roman camp for demigods.at first it may not seem that bad, but Percy's got a problem; he doesn't remember ANYTHING!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER; I own PJO just about as much as I own the moon :P**

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Chapter 1

"Percy, run!"

I woke up, covered in cold sweat in a place I could not recognize. It looked like an infirmary, which was the last place I wanted to be since that usually means I did something bad.

I sat up, trying to remember what I was dreaming about. I knew that something bad has happened but I couldn't tell what. There was some sort if evil thing that was trying to hurt me. Or maybe was it trying to talk to me? I wasn't sure. And then there was a girl's voice telling me to run. But run from what?

I looked around, trying to figure out what time it was. There was a small window on the wall right across from my bed, and judging by the sky it was just beginning to get dark. How long have I been here? And more importantly, where exactly was here?

"Let's think logically" I told myself. "My name is Percy...Percy what? I didn't know! I am 16 years old, or am I seventeen?" God this isn't good! I didn't remember anything at all. How is that possible? I tried thinking back to the last thing I remembered but the only thing that came up was the evil voice and the girl telling me to run. Not exactly what I needed to cheer me up.

Just as I was about to get up the door flew open and a girl ran in followed by a very strict looking man. The girl was about my age, with curly brown hair braided down her back. She was wearing jeans and a purple t-shirt with stains that looked an awful lot like blood. Her face was scratched and she had a bleeding gash right above her right eye. She ran up to me and hugged me as if we've known each other for many years. "Thank gods you're okay! I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, I was just..." I didn't know what to say. This was way to unreal. I closed my eyes and counted to five._ I will open my eyes and everything will be fine. I will wake up at home and this will all have been a dream._ I opened my eyes and sure enough I was still in the infirmary, face to face with the girl. I took a deep breath."What happened to me?" I asked pulling away from here, "and who exactly are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I...I don't know."

She turned to the old mad with such a scared expression it made me feel uncomfortable.

"Sir, I thought Melissa said that he was going to be ok!"

"It's alright Reyna; he's just shocked that's all. After all he's been trough I'm surprised he came around so fast."

"Look at me!" - She grabbed my shoulders and gave me a violent shake, "who are you?"

"I don't know."

"What's your name?"

"Percy."

"Percy what?"

"I don't know."

"How old are you?"

"I don't know."

Where are you from?

"Alright, that's enough Reyna! You're scaring the hell out of him." The man walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Dou you really not remember anything?"

"No! I'm sorry but I don't."

"Not even what just happened?"

"No. What happened?"

But the old man was already at the door. "Give him some moor nectar and let him rest."

"Yes sir."He left and Reyna walked over to my bed with a mug in her hand.

"Here, drink this."

I did, and I have to admit it was the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. The taste was really familiar, but I couldn't understand why. "What is this?"

"Nectar. The drink of the gods. It helps cure demigods but if you drink too much of it you will disintegrate."

"Wait, gods?"

"Yes. Do you really not remember anything?"

"I already told you I don't."

"Right. Well, I have to go get ready. There is a camp meeting today and we don't want to be late or we'll have to clean up after everyone and that is not fun. I'll go get you some new clothes while you finish this."She got up, but before she could walk out a tall, blond guy ran in almost knocking Reyna of her feet. "Reyna, hurry up! Everyone is already gathering."

"It's not supposed to start till 8"

"Ya well you Lupa ordered everyone tom be there as soon as they can."That's when the guy noticed me. "Hey, are you the guy who blew up the hydra layer? Nice job man!"He gave me a high five and ran out the door before I could even ask him his name.

"Well, I guess we really have to hurry now."Reyna stepped out through another door that I haven't noticed before and soon came back with fresh jeans and a purple t-shirt."Here. They might be a bit big but it's the only ones we have."

While I changed, a hundred questions spun in my head. Where was I? Reyna said that she gave me the drink of the gods. Gods? And she called me something, a word I'm sure I've heard before I just couldn't remember where. She called me a demigod.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As I stepped out of the infirmary the first thing that struck me was the landscape. The whole place consisted of three main parts. Where I was right now was the field that covered the area of a few squared kilometres. Behind that, I could see a very dark and creepy looking forest. The whole thing was surrounded by a chain of mountains.

The infirmary was a small wooden building on the south end of the field. On the opposite side there was a big structure that reminded me of a temple standing on top of a hill. At the base of the hill kids were racing across a huge, oval shaped lake on odd looking canoes. A bit farther down I could see a group of small buildings that reminded me of cabins. On the right was...wait, the roman coliseum? Ok, now I was definitely going insane.

The more I looked, the crazier I thought this whole thing was. There were kids running around in battle armour, screaming at each other as they tried to tie down a gigantic creature that looked like a lizard with 5 heads. There was a climbing wall that spits fire and bites you if you're not going fast enough, a running track where you were chased by a hellhound to make sure you don't slack, a sword fighting arena, stables and other things that you couldn't even dream about. "Wow! I said as I followed Reyna down towards the cabins, "What is this place?"

"Welcome to _Roma Base Camp_." She announced, gesturing around her, "This is where we learn how to survive so that we don't get killed out in the big world."

"No offence but I think you guys are a bit exenterating. Is the big world really this bad?"

"You have no idea. I mean, you do, you just don't remember. Being a demigod is a hard thing, and if you don't learn how to survive you will not last very long."

"What do you mean by demigod?"

"Oh I'm sure you know."

As we got closer to the cabins I noticed that they were standing in a circle around an open pavilion. In the middle of the pavilion was a group of teenagers of about my age sitting around a campfire. The guy that I saw earlier was sitting beside the strict looking man, who I'm guessing was the director of Roma base camp. On the other side of him sat a she-wolf. Reyna walked up to the fire and threw in a small golden coin she took out of her pocket. The fire flashed purple and Reyna sat down on the other side of the wolf. I was about to go sit beside her, but the wolf glared at me in such a scary way that I decided I would rather stay standing. The campers all stared at me in silence and it made me feel really uncomfortable. Finally, the man spoke."You're late Reyna."

"I'm sorry sir. I was just helping Percy get ready."

"That is no excuse. You shall be on clean up duty for the rest of the week."

Reyna bowed her head and shrunk back. She looked so miserable it made me feel bad."Sir, "I said, trying to sound as brave and confident as I could, "It was not her fault. She was just doing her duty and looking out for me."

Everyone stared at me. I tried to stand straight and look confident, but really the only thing I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me. "Alright then." He said with a little laugh, "It looks like Reyna's got herself a volunteer to help her." Everyone laughed. "Does anyone else want to volunteer?" he asked, a bit louder then I would expect to hear an old man talk. The laughing seized immediately. "Good. The let's proceed."

I was beginning to like this camp director less and less. He gave me a look that clearly said _you are wasting my time. Better behave or you'll be in big trouble._"What is your name son?"He asked. _As if you care _I thought to myself. "Percy"

"Percy what?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know _sir_."

"Sir" I repeated. No, I definitely did not like this man.

"Do you remember anything at all?"

"I already told you I don't... sir."I added.

"Do you know where you are?"

"I'm at a camp for demigods."

"So you know who you are then."

"Only because Reyna told me."

"Sir!"One of the guys exclaimed giving me a dirty look "We are wasting our time. Just kill him and that's it."

"Would you like to be on clean up duty for the rest of the month Regulus?"

"No sir." He said looking down.

"Good. Then speak when spoken to and don't interrupt."

Regulus gave me such hatred look that I knew that I've just made myself a lifelong enemy. Not exactly a great way to start camp.

"Does anyone else have any propositions about what to do with him?"

"Sir" the guy that I met earlier said in a polite but stern voice, "I think we should give him a chance. After what he did today, I'm sure that he can be very useful."

"What do you say Lupa?"

Everyone looked at the she-wolf. She got up, and walked over to me. I felt very strange as she slowly circled me, examining me the way a hunter examines his kill figuring out how much it's worth. "This boy is definitely worth something." She finally said as she sat back down in her spot. "He has been through a lot, and he has some great powers. I shall take him with me and he shall take the test. If he passes, he shall become one of us. If not..."

There was yet another long silence. _What is this place? _I thought to myself as they all stared at me. I mean what kind of camp holds meetings to decide whether they want to keep a camper or kill him? Whatever this place was, I knew I didn't belong here.

"Well, I guess that settles it then."Said the man as he got up from his seat. "I pronounce this meeting officially closed."

Everybody got up and started to leave. "Reyna. I want you to direct Percy to cabin 13."

"Yes sir!" she said, bowing her head in respect.

"I expect to see you tomorrow at lunch." He told me before heading off towards the temple-house. Just as we were about to leave, Lupa walked by me and whispered (or maybe I heard her thoughts) in my ear, "I saved your life demigod. Pray you don't disappoint me." On that happy note she disappeared into the night and I followed Katherine to cabin 13.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

All the campers at Roma Base Camp were divided according to their godly parent. There was a cabin for every Olympian god, plus a few cabins for minor gods and one cabin for the campers that were _undetermined_. And that cabin was the one we were heading to.

"So, how do we know who my godly parent is?" I asked Reyna as she walked me towards cabin 13 which was supposed to be my home until we find out which god I'm related to.

"You have to be claimed." She replied simply.

"What do you mean claimed?" I asked.

"You'll see. I can't really explain it." She said.

"So who's your godly parent?"

"Mars" she said as she stopped in front of my cabin, " the god of war and revenge."

"Really? I thought that Ares's kids were always mean bullies."

"Did you ever hear the expression don't judge a book by its cover? And why do you call the gods by their Greek names?"

"I don't know."

"Alright well good night." She turned around and was gone before I could thank her. I sighted and walked into my cabin. Something about the way Reyna talked about her dad made me feel like she didn't really like him.

Cabin 13 reminded me something of a prison. The walls were plain and gray, the beds were small and uncomfortable and there was only one bathroom that I had to share with 5 other roommates. Josh, a tall muscular guy with a huge scar across his pit-bull face was the counsellor. The other four were all a few years younger than me and I never heard them say a word other than their names. Josh assigned me a bed next to the window. I laid out my stuff, and I did not have a lot, on my bed. My belongings consisted of some clean stuff, a tooth brush, my training schedule and a golden ballpoint pen. I didn't know where that last one came from, but I had a feeling that it was very important so I put it aside for now and tacked up the rest of my stuff into the closet (that I also had to share with everyone.)

Lupa has given me 4 days to train before my big test I was surly going to fail. I sat down on my bed and examined my schedule. Wakeup call was at 6 am, and then I had warm-up, archery, Pegasus flying, sword fighting and lunch. After lunch I was supposed to have a free hour but since I was in trouble I had clean up duty instead. Finally there was a tournament between the campers after what we had dinner and then off to bed. This was insane, a camp where kinds learned fighting and Pegasus flying!

That's when I noticed that my pen was gone. I looked on the floor but it wasn't anywhere in sight. Where could it go? A small voice inside my head told me to check my pocket. It sounded dumb but I did and surprisingly there it was. _Strange _I thought as I examined it, _I don't remember putting it there_. Curious, I uncapped it and to my surprise, it grew into a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was perfectly balanced, as if made especially for me. "Wow!" Everyone exclaimed in amazement as they gathered around me.

"What—what is that?" a small blond girl asked leaning in to take a better look.

"Riptide" I said, not sure how I knew that.

"What?" asked Josh. He was staring at me as if I'm an alien from outer space.

"It's name is Riptide."

"How do you know?" he asked "I thought you didn't remember anything."

"I don't. I just know it."I replied simply.

"Where did you get it?" asked the little girl (I think her name was Rose) who was sitting quietly in the corner until now.

"I'm not sure" I answered examining the polished blade. I had an odd feeling that this sword did not belong here, and neighed did I for that matter.

"Strange" said Josh as he inched closer to examine the sword, "It's made of celestial bronze."

"So?" I asked a bit insulted by his comment.

"It is a rare type of metal that can only harm monsters or demigods."

"Well if it's meant for monsters and demigods then isn't this the type of weapons that you guys use?"

"We use imperial gold; celestial bronze is much older. I haven't seen a weapon made from it in a long time."

I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again.

"I wonder how it got into my pocket" I said.

"Let's see" said Josh. He took Riptide and threw it across the room. I felt silly, but I stayed there and waited patiently for I don't know what. Suddenly I felt a weight in my pocket. I reached my hand in and sure enough there was my sword. Everyone stared in amazement.

"I don't know where that thing came from but it's amazing!" Exclaimed Josh.

"Thanks."

"Can a hold it?" a little boy asked me. He was the youngest in our cabin, around 8 years old. I didn't know if I could trust him with a sword but I gave it to him never the less. The sword passed from hand to hand until it finally came back to me. Everyone got ready for bed and josh called lights out.

The night was terrible. I tossed and turned for many hours trying to remember who I was. I don't remember falling sleep, but I remember the dream.

I was inside what looked like a big cabin made of white marble. In front of me was the statue of a goddess, ten feet tall, wearing long gold robes. _Hera _I thought, though I wasn't sure how I knew. Her piercing eyes seemed alive.

I stared at the statue, unable to move or speak. That's when I saw them, dark shadows creeping in the corners of the room. They seemed to be growing, and as they got bigger the stature grew smaller. The paint peeled away and her smiling expression changed to one of horror. _Help me _she appeared to be saying. _Help! _The shadows grew bigger and bigger until they filled up the hole room. My dream shifted.

Now I was in a large, dark cave. A group of giant sat on the floor around the fire. They were drinking, and every time they laughed the ground shook underneath my feet. I looked to my right and saw a large cage full of live people. They were all terrified, some were screaming, some were crying, others just stood there in silence. Once in a while one of the giants would grab a random person and swallow them whole. I felt terrible. I needed to help these innocent people but my body was frozen. The dark shadows appeared. I woke up shivering and panting, drained in cold sweat. I sat up, the screams of these poor people ringing in my head. _It was only a dream_ I told myself, _none of it is real._

I took me a while but I finally managed to slip into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning was torture!

It started with me being late for warm up, which earned me 3 extra laps on the jogging track (not to mention I was being chased by a hellhound). By the time we got to stretching my legs felt like jell-o. Afterward I had archery, which as you can imagine I failed at miserably. I was supposed to have Pegasus flying next but it was cancelled for whatever reason so I had canoeing instead. I guess I wasn't that bad but it's not exactly the type of heroic skill everyone wants to have. Then at sword-fighting everything changed. The instructor was a tall guy with a burn mark on his right arm. His name was Bobby (I know right?). Bobby was about my height but with twice as many muscles. He was 19, but his eyes made him look older. They were the color of a storm cloud and had a lot of sadness in them.

"Well if it isn't Percy gods know who." He said as I walked into the arena. "How are you?"

"Umm... I'm fine thank you."

"How do you like the camp so far?"

"If I say not really will I get blown to bits or something?"

"Ha! You're funny. Don't worry; you might even end up liking it. The first few days are always rough but you get used to it. That is unless you die."

"I don't know about that." I replied. I seriously doubted I would ever like this camp.

Bobby didn't answer. He opened the big door on the left side of the arena and led me into a huge room full of weapons. "Here!" he said gesturing me to walk in "every fighter needs a weapon."

"Thanks but I already have one" I said as I pulled Riptide out of my pocket. Before he could comment I uncapped it and it grew into a sword.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "Where did you get _this _from?"

"I wish I knew." I said a bit embarrassed. How could I not remember this?

"Strange!"He said as he took it from me "It's made of..."

"Celestial bronze."

"Yes. This is a very old weapon." He handed it back to me and closed the door. "Well, since you have a weapon I guess you've been fighting before."

"Maybe."

"Well then that's what we have to figure out." He said pulling out a 25in golden blade from his holster.

"Ready?" he asked.

I lifted Riptide and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Ready." I replied gathering all my strength and confidence.

We started with some basic drills. It turned out I was actually pretty good. I dodged the first few strikes and before Bobby had time to turn around I slashed my sword leaving a bleeding cut on his right arm.

"Not bad." He said as he smacked me in the ribs with the flat of his blade, "Keep up your guard Percy."

I sidestepped another attack but this time he came up faster than I expected and swiped me across the chest. Instantly, I felt blinding pain. I looked down to see my shirt soaked in hot, sticky blood. The pain was so intense I wanted to stop, but I knew I couldn't. I had to keep fighting.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in my chest I lifted my sword and charged at Bobby. He deflected my attack but I crouched and stabbed at his right leg. Bobby yelped in pain. Before he could fight back I kicked him down, sending his sword clattering across the arena. I used my foot to pin him to the ground and pointed Riptide under his chin. I could read the shock in his eyes. Then to my surprise Bobby's face broke into a happy grin.

"That was brilliant!" he exclaimed happily, "Very smart move. Looks like you did learn how to fight before after all." I lowered my sword and dropped down on my knees beside him. My chest was burning.

"What style was that?" he asked after catching his breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This is not the classic roman style. It seems much more...older."

"I wish I knew." I replied. My head was spinning; I was losing blood fast. I looked down at my chest. The cut did not appear to be deep but that did not stop it from bleeding heavily.

"I'm sorry about that." Bobby said following my gaze. "It would have helped if you had armour but we didn't have any spare pieces at the moment."

"It's fine." I replied.

"You should go to the infirmary." He said after a short silence.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm just..."I winced as he helped me get up.

"Oh ya! You are perfectly fine." He replied sarcastically.

"What about our lesson." I asked. Truly I didn't really care about the lesson but I just came out of the infirmary yesterday and I was not anxious to go back.

"Screw the lesson. I don't want to see you die of blood loss." He said.

"Fine but your leg is injured. You should go to."

He looked unhappy but he agreed. I could tell the pain was bothering him even though he was trying to conceal it.

We stumbled towards the log house. Bobby was leaning against me, his right leg dragging helplessly on the ground. By the time we got there I was ready to pass out from pain. A girl named Gwendolyn gave us some ambrosia and clean bandages. It tasted like melted chocolate chip cookies. Abruptly, pain erupted behind my eyes. With a sudden flash I found myself sitting at the table in a small apartment. A young woman with frizzy brown hair and warm chocolate eyes was offering me a tray of blue chocolate chip cookies. Her smile was warm and inviting. My vision went blurry and I was back in the infirmary, panting on the floor. I looked up to see Bobby and Gwendolyn staring at me. I could not decide whether their expression was worried or disturbed. Probably both.

"Yo, you alright man?" Bobby asked.

"Yah, I just...had a migraine. I'm alright now." I replied as I got up.

"Maybe you need to..." Gwendolyn begins to say.

"I'm fine!" I snapped back. She looked hurt. I felt bad; I shouldn't have snapped like that. She was just trying to help. But I couldn't help it; I was to shaken to think straight.

I stormed out of the infirmary, head still pounding. A horn sounded in the distance, it was time for lunch. Groups of campers were heading towards the main building on top of the hill. I had nothing else to do but to follow them. Reyna caught up to me half way up the hill.

"Percy!" She started to say when suddenly her happy expression changed to one full of horror. "What...what happened to you?"

I followed her gaze and realized I was still wearing the shirt I wore to sword fighting. It was tore and all soaked in blood. Beneath it my chest was all bandaged.

"That's nothing." I said looking away. "Just a small scratch I got in sword fighting."

"I told Bobby to go easy on you." She looked pissed off. I smiled, "Don't worry" I said, and "I'm not the only one."

But Reyna wasn't listening. She was too distracted by a group of guys that were heading towards us. Although I think the term _guys_ is not exactly appropriate. They were 5 grown men, all in leather boots and with swords hanging from their belts. I already noticed that most of the campers were very muscular but these _guys_ beet all the records .Their huge muscles stood out from under their purple camp shirts. The one in the front, probably their leader, walked up straight to Reyna and put his arm around her.

"Hey sugar. Is this guy bothering you?" he asked giving me a mocking stare. Reyna made a disgusted expression.

"Get off James." She said pushing him away.

"Awwww, come one sugar..." he tried to hug her again but Reyna slapped him so hard he stumbled back into his companions.

"Do NOT call me sugar!" she yelled at him.

James's eyes were full of hatred. I suddenly felt very protective of Reyna. After all, she was just one girl against five mean guys with swords. Not exactly what you would call an equal match.

"What, are you afraid that Jason will find out? He's gone, get it, GONE! Get over it sugar. What do you see in him anyway? He's nothing but a no good coward. " his friends all laughed as if James said some funny joke.

I looked back at Reyna. If looks could kill James would have died there and now. Her eyes were literally glowing with fire. She pulled out her knife and I realized that it was not made of imperial gold like everyone else's. It was made of a strange bloody red metal that seemed to glow with a faint red light. A flame pattern was engraved into the hilt. She pointed it towards James and the blade started to glow brighter, as if it could sense fresh blood. James stepped back. I could see his grin vanish as he stared at the glowing blade in Reyna's hand.

"DoNOT speak of Jason that way. He is twice as brave as all of you combined together and you know it. He risked his life so many times for all of us. In fact, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him. Unlike you, he's actually a hero. Unless you think it was you who led out troops into battle this summer? Or was it you who went on so many quest to protect us? Have you done at least one thing that was as great as what Jason did? Because if you did then tell us." James stared at the ground and said nothing.

"I thought so!" Reyna said with a smirk, "you may think you're all cool and tough looking but you are no hero James. You are just a no good, good for nothing nobody. And until you can prove me wrong don't even try to talk to me because I will kill you."

Reyna stopped to catch her breath. I didn't know who Jason was but I heard some of the other campers talk about him. From what I could gather, Jason had gone missing a day before they found me. I guess he was pretty popular because everyone was bothered by his absence. James looked really pissed but didn't say anything. He just gave me a murderous glance and strode of towards the pavilion.

"Are you ok?" I asked when James and his gang were out of hearing range.

"Yes. Just a bit shaken that's all." She replied putting her knife away. The blade was still glowing but less brightly this time.

"That's a cool knife you've got there." I said trying to change the conversation.

"Thanks. It's a present from my dad."

"Ares?"

"Well...yes. Except we usually call the gods by their roman names."

"Right, sorry."

We have arrived to the temple (which turned out to be the dining pavilion) and were greeted by Lupa and the strict looking man (God I had to learn his name). I noticed that campers would bow to them before they entered and decided it was best I did the same. "Well well. Mr. Percy I don't know who I am. Enjoying camp?" The old man said blocking my way.

"Yes sir. Thank you."

He smirked but stepped aside letting me in.

The dining pavilion was a huge room full of tables. There was a table for each cabin, plus an extra table for the _staff_ at the front of the room. There was also a long table stretching along 3 of the walls but I wasn't sure what those were for. A fire burned in front of a marble altar in the center of the pavilion.

I sat down with my cabin. There were golden plates and cups on the table but all of them were empty. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to get any food at all when the man gestured for everyone to be quiet. A dead silence fell in the room.

"Hello everyone!" he said extending his arms as if to hug all of us, "how nice it is to see that all of you are still alive."

"As if he would care if we weren't." Somme kid from the Apollo table murmured.

"Mr. Norrington! Looks like you just bought yourself a month of detention!"

The kid mumbled back something like _yes sir_ and looked down at his plate.

"As I was saying, it is nice to see you all safe and sound. I would like to introduce you to our new camper, Percy."

Everyone stared at me in silence. Josh gestured me to get up, and even though I didn't want to I did as he said. All eyes were on me.

"As some of you know Percy helped one of our troops destroy the hydra layer after what he seems to have lost his memory. Pleas make him feel as much at home as possible, even though we don't know what his home is like, and try not to kill him. Also, as you know Jason Grace is still missing. A new quest shall be launched if he is not found in the next four days. Remember, if you have any information you must tell me or Lupa RIGHT AWAY! And now, _bon appétit_!" He waved his hands and immediately food appeared on the three empty tables along the walls. Everyone grabbed their plates and cups and headed towards them. Basically, it was like a buffet. You could take anything you wanted as long as you didn't take too much (or the food will disappear of your plate). There were all sorts of food; fries, ribs, chicken, hot dogs, sandwiches, fajitas, meat, vegetables, salads, pasta and a lot more (some of which I did not recognise.) I didn't realize just how hungry I was until now. I filled my plate with everything I could and headed back to my table.

"Hey man! How are you?" Josh asked as I dropped down in the seat next to him.

"I'm fine." I replied simply.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"Oh...I just...I was at sword-fighting and..."

"Alright don't stress yourself kid. I got it." Josh took a huge bite of his sandwich and chewed it loudly.

I noticed that 12 of the tables had a symbol on them, representing one of the gods. I also noticed that a few of those tables were empty. "What's with the empty tables?" I asked, "Don't these kids eat lunch."

"Those are the tables of the gods who don't have demigod children. The three at the front of the room are for the big three; Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. They made a promise not to have anymore demigod children because they are too powerful. Jupiter however, already broke it and I'm guessing that so did the others."

"What do you mean broke it?"

"Jason, the guy who's missing, is a son of Jupiter."

"Oh. What about the other two?"

"The one beside Jupiter's table belongs to Juno. She's loyal to her husband so she doesn't have kids with mortals."

"How about the one on the left?"

"That one is Diana's. She is a virgin so obviously no demigods."

"But if they don't have any demigod children why bother having tables and cabins for them?"

"Respect. The gods get pissed off very easily, especially if they don't feel respected enough."

I looked over to the 8th table. Reyna was sitting with a group of tuff looking kids. They were having an argument about some stolen chariot and you could hear them from across the room.

"This...Jason," I began to say "What happened to him?"

"That's the question we've all been trying to answer. He disappeared around the same time when we found you. It's a great mystery."

"And how exactly did you find me?"

"Well, it's kind of a strange story. It was the day after Jason had gone missing. Mr.C threw a quest to find him and..."

"Who's Mr.C?" I asked confused.

"Our director, Julius Caesar."

"W—what? That...that man is..._Julius Caesar_? But, he's DEAD!"

"Ya well Pluto brought him back as long as he stays here and trains young heroes. We were...kind of low on candidates so we had to take desperate measure."

"Oh!" I was beginning to get used to weird stuff happening to me but meeting Julius Caesar was beyond anything I've ever imagined.

"Anyways," Josh continued, "Instead of finding Jason our group stumbled upon a hydra layer. Our situation was looking bleak when suddenly you showed up. Desmond ordered you to get back but instead you charged right at the hydras. I'm not sure how but suddenly the lake started boiling and there was a huge wave followed by an explosion. It happened so fast no one really know what you did but you destroyed the whole layer. The explosion threw us off our feet, and by the time we got up you were gone. We thought you were dead; after all you were the closest to the layer when it blew up. We were about to give up when Desmond finally found you. The blast threw you into the lake and when we got you out you were perfectly fine. Not a single scratch or burn. You were unconscious so we brought you back here. The rest you know."

We sat in silence as I let Josh's story sink in. _Me destroying a hydra layer? _That sounded like something a hero would do. _But I am no hero _I told myself, _I could not possibly have done that._ That's when I felt the pain again. In a flash I found myself standing in front of the empire state building. I was wearing battle armour, Riptide in hand. A girl with blond hair and stormy gray eyes was standing next to me. Something about this picture bothered me. Suddenly, I realized what. Manhattan was in chaos. Cars were overturned, Buildings on fire. The ground was covered in shattered glass and debris. Around us people were moaning and calling for help. The sky was enveloped in think black clouds. Someone called out my name and my vision went black.

I was back in the pavilion, except I was curled up on the floor, hands around my head. Everyone was gathered around me. Caesar was screaming at the campers to go back to their seats but nobody listened. Reyna kneeled down beside me.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Ya, I...I'm just dizzy." I replied.

"You were screaming." She told me, worry in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and she helped me get up.

"I think you need to go to the infirmary." Caesar said, though he sounded like he really couldn't care less.

"No!" I exclaimed so loud that all conversations sized instantly. "I mean...I'm fine, really. I just need to rest."

"Alright." Caesar said after a long pause, "You are excused from detention for today. Go and rest, but if you still feel sick report to the infirmary right away."

I walked out of the pavilion, a hundred pairs of eyes burning a hole in my back. As soon as I was out of sight I ran.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I ran all the way down to my cabin and slammed the door behind me. My roommates were still having lunch so I had the cabin all to myself. I lay on my bed, head pounding. What did all of these visions mean? I had to find out. But a little voice inside my head told me these weren't just visions. They were memories, _my memories._

I sat up wondering. If these were really memories then why was it so painful. Was it always going to be like this? I thought back to my memory in Manhattan. Who was that blond girl? I felt like I knew here from somewhere. _My first dream, _I realized, _she was the one telling me to run!_ I was glad I was alone because I realized I was blushing as I thought of her. Then I remembered Manhattan. Could it really look like that? It seemed impossible. And what would I be doing in battle armor in the middle of a destroyed Manhattan? This was all too much to take in.

There was a knock on my door. I opened it and found myself face to face with Reyna. She was smiling but I could tell she was worried. An awkward silence fell between us.

"May I come in?" She finally asked.

"Oh right! Sure." I blushed and stepped aside.

I closed the door and turned to face her.

"Look Percy, I know you don't want to talk about it but...what happened back there?"

"You're right," I said "I don't want to talk about it."

"This may be important." She said pleadingly. I took a deep breath, "I had a flashback."

"A what?" she asked surprised.

"At least I think it was a flashback. I was in Manhattan except it was all destroyed and I was there with a bunch of teens dressed in battle armour."

Reyna stared at me in shock! I felt uncomfortable. Maybe I shouldn't have told her my flashback after all. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"What is it?" I asked, "Why are you so scared? It might have just been a dream."

"It wasn't a dream." She replied, "It..." she cut herself off as if she had said something she didn't want to. "Never mind, I guess it was just a dream." She said as she made her way to the door. "Anyways, I have to go. If I'm late for detention Mr. C will feed me to the hellhounds. Have a good rest."

She walked out before I could say anything. I felt anger rise in me as I watched her run towards the pavilion. Reyna definitely knew something I didn't but she wasn't about to share it with me. I went back to sit on my bed and pulled out Riptide. I ran my fingers down the polished blade. _Whatever it is that Reyna was hiding from me, I won't rest until I find out. _I told myself. I put the sword away and curled up in bed. Before I knew it I was asleep.

In my dream I was back inside the marble cabin, Hera's statue glaring down at me. I waited for the shadows to appear again but there was no sign of them. That's when I heard a sweet but firm voice; "_don't fret young demigod. We've got some time before they appear. "_

I looked around though I already knew that I was the only one here apart from the statue. THE STATUE. I turned back to face Hera. Even though she hasn't moved I knew the voice belonged to her.

"What are they?" I asked, "And what do they want?"

"_What they are is not what matters. What matters is what they want. There is a new war coming up, a war much greater than the last. But it isn't time for you worry yourself about it. Your time will come. For now you just need to stay here and do whatever Lupa tells you to. Your friends will come for you when it's time."_

"What friends? I don't remember anything. And how do you expect me not worry if you say a war is coming up and I don't even know who I am? Why did I lose my memory?" I was nearly crying. The statues cold eyes seemed to be staring right into my soul.

"_It was a necessary for the exchange. It was dangerous for you to keep your memories. But don't worry, when the time is right you will remember."_

"And when is that?" I yelled in frustration. "They are MY memories. You had no right to take them."

"_Once you find out you will understand. I have already shown you too much. My time is up. I must leave you now. Remember what I said Percy, it will keep you alive."_

My vision started to swim. "Wait!" I yelled, "What do you mean? Don't leave me!" I heard somebody say my name but it sounded miles away. Hera's words still hung in the air; _there is a new war coming up... It was a necessary for the exchange... I have already shown you too much..._ What does this mean? I heard my name again, this time a bit louder. It was dragging me out of my dream._ No! _I though, _I can't go. I have to know more._ A sudden jolt of pain ran through my body and I woke up.

I was lying on my bead, covered in cold sweat. My roommates, all dressed in battle armour, were gathered around me. Josh was kneeling beside my bed.

"Percy?"He asked as calmly as he could. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." I replied, "I'm perfectly fine. I just had a bad dream that's all."

Josh's expression clearly stated that he didn't believe me. To my relief he got up and headed to the door.

"You can let go of that now." He said before walking out.

I looked down and noticed that I was clutching my pillow. I quickly put it down and got up. The rest of my roommates stared at me in silence.

"You might want to get ready." One of the boys finally said. I think his name was Sawyer but I wasn't sure. "The tournament is about to begin.

"What tournament?" I asked confused. I was still thinking about my dream.

"The gladiator fights." He replied.

"Right!" I said though I wasn't sure what he was talking about. "And where am I supposed to go?"

"I'll show you" he said and walked towards the door. The others were already gone but I didn't notice them leave.

"Thanks." I said. I took Riptide and followed the kid out the door.

Outside it was already starting to get dark. I took a deep breath of cold air, trying to clear my head. We made our way slowly towards the coliseum. I must admit, the view was breathtaking. This building was an exact replica of the real coliseum back in the days when Rome was still a great empire. It was like traveling back in time. The perimeter was surrounded by lighten torches that blazed with a strange purplish fire. A crowd of campers has already gathered at the front end. Everybody was wearing full battle armour, their gold weapons shimmering in the dim light if the torches. I thought the boy would lead me to where everyone else was but instead he led me to the back of the coliseum.

"Where are you going? Isn't the entrance that way?" I asked confused.

"Do you want to fight without armor?" he asked mockingly. We walked in silence until we got to the opposite side of the coliseum. There, leaning against a pillar was a pile of armor. Some of it was in a terrible state; some had only small dents in it. And it was all made of bronze and silver. The boy walked up to the pile and started digging through it. Finally he pulled out a breastplate, some leg armor, a small shield and a helmet.

"Here" he said handing them to me, "they are not perfect size but they should do for now."

I thanked him and took the armor. The metal was cold and extremely heavy. Sawyer suggested to help me put on the armour but I refused. Perhaps it was not the wisest choice but at that time I was worried about other things. Surely enough Hera's words would still not leave me alone but now that I have recovered from the previous shock I began to realize that I was in major trouble. After all, I was about to enter a gladiator fight and to be honest I was sure I was going to die. No matter what happened in sword-fighting I knew I've never been in a real gladiator fight before. I felt a lump form in my throat as I came back to the front of the coliseum and joined the crowd of campers who were attempting to get in. At last, I pushed myself through the crowd and found myself inside the gigantic amphitheater.

In all, the coliseum could probably fit around 50,000 spectators. The campers already filled a third of the seats, and more were still coming. I haven't realized just how big this camp was until now. A broad stadium was provided for Lupa and Mr. C at the south end of the stadium.

The arena itself was about 3 984m² and was covered by a layer of thin sand. I could feel someone walk up behind me an instinctively whirled around. Turns out it was only Josh.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "Chill man, it's just me."

"Sorry." I mumbled back.

"Come on, we have to go sit down with our cabin mates." He said.

I followed him up to the second level where I could see the rest of our cabin already in their seats. The seats were made of cold marble and weren't very comfortable. To our right I could see the kids from the Ceres cabin. They were trying to make cushions out of dry vines.

"So how exactly does this work?" I asked Josh as we waited for everyone to gather.

"Well, every day we have one to three tournaments, depending on how long they last. Whoever was the winner last time gets to call up whoever he wants. He or she has a choice between fighting a monster or another camper. When we fight with other campers we usually fight until one of us gives up. It is rare that any demigods die in these tournaments."

"Rare, but it still happens though?" I asked nervously.

"If neither of the campers gives up the fight might end badly. It usually doesn't happen though. Otherwise we would probably be out of campers by now." He replied with a tone of amusement. I personally did not find this funny at all. I shifted anxiously in my seat as I waited for what would happen next.

"Why do you guys do this anyways? Is it really that fun to watch people die?"

"It's mandatory. Besides, the winner gets a beautiful trophy and 3 week off. The winners are also the ones who usually get to go on quest." He replied.

Finally, everybody has taken their seat and Mr. C announced that the tournament has officially begun. Regulus, the guy who has suggested killing me during the first meeting walked out to the center of the arena. He bowed and Lupa offered him the choice of opponent. Regulus instantly chose monster. The heavy metal doors on the other side of the arena opened with a loud clinging noise and enormous griffin jumped out onto the arena.

The monster looked really pissed off. I gave Regulus a glare full of hatred before it charged at him with a loud roar. Regulus side stepped and the monster's claws buried 12in into the sand where he has been standing a second ago. The monster roared in frustration and charged again. This time Regulus was not so lucky. The monster knocked him off his feet and snapped at his arm. Regulus winced but didn't stop fighting. He lifted his sword and plunged the blade deep into the creature's chest. The monster roared in agony and disintegrated into a pile of smoking ashes. Regulus lifted it over his head in triumph. Everybody cheered.

"Well done Hero!" Caesar congratulated him. "Who shall be your next opponent?"

Regulus looked around the amphitheater, and surly enough his eyes stopped on me. He gave we a wide grin and turned back to face Caesar.

"I would like to face Percy." He said in a firm voice. There were some disapproving murmurs from the other campers but Lupa silenced them all with one glare.

"Then Percy it shall be." Said Caesar and waved his hand, commanding me to come down.

Everybody's eyes followed me as I made my way towards the arena. Regulus was grinning like a maniac. I bowed to Lupa and Caesar and pulled out Riptide.

"I'm ready!" I said gathering all my willpower and courage.

"Then let the fight begin!" Caesar said, lifting his hands up to the sky.

As soon as these words were out of his mouth Regulus charged at me. I barely had the time to lift my shield before his sword slammed into in with such force I stumbled backwards. Before I could recover Regulus charged at me again. He was incredibly fast for someone his size. I could barely dodge his attacks. I stabbed at his chest but he deflected the blade and sent me stumbling back into a pillar. The crowd cheered. I saw Regulus charge at me again but this time I was faster. I knelled and plunged Riptide right between the armor joints. Regulus wailed out in pain. I pushed him back and charged again. Unfortunately, this is where my luck ended. Regulus deflected my attack and hit me in the face with the hilt of his blade. I had just enough time to duck before his sword whistled past me, missing my bare neck by an inch. He turned back to face me, anger glowing in his eyes. He charged, but instead of hitting me, his sword hit the base of mine. I understood his move just a second too late. He twisted his arm, putting all his weight into the thrust.

_Clang._

My sword clattered to the floor and Regulus kicked it aside. I was defenseless. Regulus gave me a huge smile.

"You can give up you know." He said almost laughing, "It will save me the trouble of killing you."

I stared back at him. I knew Riptide would reappear in my pocket but by the time it does I would already be dead. I looked up to meet Lupa's cold yellow eyes staring at me. I could tell she was anxious to see what I would do. A deadly silence fell in the room.

I felt sudden anger rise in me. I knew that if I gave up, I would be humiliated for the rest of my life. I stared into Regulus's mocking eyes and charged at him with a wild scream. With all my strength I thrust my shield against Regulus's chest. He stumbled back, but quickly regained his balance. He gave me a hatred look and charged.

That's when something weird happened. All the water bottles in the room suddenly exploded, creating a gigantic pillar of spinning water. The pillar grew taller and taller until it suddenly stopped spinning and collapsed with all its might onto Regulus. He didn't even have time to scream. The whole arena was flooded. I expected the power and mass of the water to knock me off my feet, but instead it just busted all around me, not a single drop landing on me. Everybody starred in amazement. As the water slowly filtered away through the sand, I saw Regulus, gasping and coughing on the ground. I reached into my pocket and pulled out Riptide. I uncapped it and pointed it under Regulus's unprotected chin.

"Now," I said in a strong and confident voice, "you can either give up, or I can kill you right here and right now. Which do you prefer better?" I asked.

Regulus gave me a look full of hatred. Then he looked down at the sword pointed to his neck and mumbled, "I give up!" Everybody cheered. I looked back at Lupa, and I could swear that she was smiling as she gave me a small nod of agreement. I nodded back.

Suddenly, the cheers stopped. I looked around to see everybody staring at me in silence. My smile promptly faded. _Did I do something wrong?_ That's when I realized that they weren't looking at me. They were looking behind me. I turned around just in time to see a shimmering blue trident fade away over my head. I looked at Lupa again. I couldn't really make out her expression. All around me, campers got up and started kneeling.

"All hail Perseus, the son of the great Sea God and emperor of the Oceans. The noble Earthshaker and Stormbringer, father of all Horses." She said bowing her head. "Behold Perseus, son of Neptune."

**(before you all start to criticize me, i know that Percy was invincible but you will see why he's not anymore later on.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! sorry I didn't write for so long, I had exams xD**

**anyways, here's the next chapter, hope you like it! **

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Chapter 6

That night I slept in my one cabin. Cabin 2 was not that big, but it was very fancy compared to cabin 13. The walls were made of gray stones, stuck together with some bluish mixture. The floor was covered with thin white sand and the ceiling was sea green, with a huge trident engraved into it. Another trident stood in the middle of a shallow pool, water streaming out of the three tips. I had my one bathroom and my one closet I didn't have to share with anyone. I got to sit at my one dinner table, and I could call lights out whenever I felt like it. Yet, I was still miserable. I lay in bed, starring at the trident above my head and thinking of Reyna. She knew something I didn't, and I was sure it was somehow related to who I was. Has she figured it out? And if she has, why hasn't she told me. Does she know about my dream?

All these questions spun in my head as I listened to the water dripping from the fountain. Slowly, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning I went through my schedule like a zombie. Nobody said a word to me, but I could hear them talking about what happened behind my back. I had canoeing again instead of Pegasus flying but I didn't care. At lunch I sat by myself at the table with a green trident. I could see my old roommates on the other side of the pavilion. Josh gave me a quick nod and looked away. I finished my lunch in silence and was about to go find Reyna when suddenly I felt a strong grip around my shoulder. I turned around to face none other than Julius Caesar, the last person I wanted to see right now.

"Hello Percy!" he said, "You missed out on dinner yesterday."

"I wasn't hungry." I replied simply. "_Sir_" I added because Mr. C gave me a very scary look.

"You better be there today." He said firmly, "it's Friday, the night of the sacrifice."

"I will make sure to be there sir." I said as politely as I could although I bet Caesar could tell I was faking. He let go of my shoulder, and I was about to walk away when I heard him say "Don't forget you still have detention today."

I turned around but he was already gone.

After lunch I went to find Reyna and we made our way to _detention_. As punishment we had to clean up everybody's plates, cups, spoons and etc. This wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have to use acid as our soap. Even though I was wearing 2 inch gloves I could still feel it and it made me uncomfortable. Something seemed to be bothering Reyna. I kept trying to find the right moment to ask her about my flashback, but she changed the conversation every time I mentioned it. Eventually we just finished working in silence. When we were finally done she said good bye and ran away before I could reply. Since there was only 10 minutes left till _free time_ was over I figured I might as well get to sword-fighting early. I took the armour that Sawyer gave me yesterday and headed towards the arena. Lupa told me they would make me my one armour, but it would take a few days. In the meantime I could use this one. As I got closer to the arena I could hear some strange noises, like metal rubbing against metal. I walked in and saw a young man, beating the hell out of a stuffed dummy. He was tall and muscular, but I knew right away it wasn't Bobby.

At the sound of my entrance the stranger turned around. He was around nineteen to twenty years old. He was tall and muscular, but not as much as Bobby. His sandy hair was cropped short, but I noticed that one strand was gray. He was dressed in simple jeans and purple camp T-shirt, with leather sandals on his feet. Even though he was smiling, his big blue eyes seemed to be full of pain. Apart from that, the only really disturbing thing about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from beneath his right eye to his jaw. For a second his smile faded, but he quickly regained control of himself and it was like nothing happened.

"Hello Percy!" he said, "It is nice to meet you. My name is Jack Shephard; I am your new sword-fighting instructor."

Something about his voice seemed terribly familiar. A sudden flash passed through my memory, Jack, standing in the same position in an arena but instead of a purple T-shirt he was wearing an orange one that said _Camp Half-Blood _on it in black letters. There was something else that was different about him too, his eyes were full of joy and had a mischievous twinkle in them.

The flash passed as fast as it came. I shook my head.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, and I could tell that he really did sound concerned.

"No, it's nothing." I replied firmly, "So what exactly happened to Bobby?"

"He was sent on a quest to find Jason Grace." He replied, "I will be teaching you for now."

"It's nice meeting you Jack." I said as we shook hands. Something about his expression was unsettling, but I couldn't tell why. I uncapped Riptide and got ready to battle.

As we fought, I noticed that Jack's technique was different from Bobbi's. In fact, it was different from anyone's at camp. He moved so fast I had almost no time to react. There was also something odd about his sword that I couldn't quite place. It was swirling around so fast I couldn't get a good look of it. Jack kept pushing me harder and harder, until he finally knocked Riptide out of my hands, the tip of his sword pointed at my throat.

"Good job Percy!" he said lowering his weapon.

"Good job? You totally owned me." I replied.

"It was a very close one. If you had moved just a little faster you probably would have won."

I didn't reply. Now that we weren't fighting I could finally get a look at his sword, and I realized what was odd about it. The blade was made from two different metals-one side was celestial bronze and the other tempered steel.

"I thought all the weapons here were made of imperial gold." I said.

"This sword is not from here." He answered, turning his blade so that it glinted in the light. I nodded. A sudden flash went through my memory again. This time I was in a forest. Jack was standing right in front of me, his sword in hand. I caught the last bit of his sentence; ...a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it." he said before slashing his sword in an arc and disappearing in a ripple of darkness.

I opened my eyes to find Jack starring at me with a worried expression. "Percy," he asked, "are you alright?"

"Yes. I just...have we met before?" I asked confused. For a second, Jack's expression darkened, but he quickly shook it off and gave me a bizarre look.

"As far as I'm concerned we've only met today. Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. I could tell he was worried, but there was something else in his voice to. A hint of fear.

"Yes. I think I'm just tired." I replied, "Anyways, it was nice meeting you but, I kind of have to go." I gave him a quick nod and ran out the door before he could say anything.

Just as I was about to run down to my cabin, I saw Reyna heading towards the forest. She was accompanied by another girl that I have never seen before. I'm not sure why but I decided to follow them.

The girls walked a short way into the woods and stopped by a huge fallen tree. I ducked behind a juniper bush and waited. Reyna's companion glanced around nervously, as if she was afraid of being followed. Finally, she sat down on the log beside her and crossed her legs.

"Want to tell me why exactly you brought me out here?" she asked, "It's almost time for the tournament."

"I'm sorry Hazel. I just didn't know who else to turn to." She said. I could tell by the way she kept twisting her braid that she was nervous.

"Well then, let's hear it." Hazel replied.

Reyna took a deep breath. "Well, you see, it's about the new camper. Percy..."

"Are you hitting on him?" Hazel asked, suddenly excited.

I could feel myself blush, and I was grateful for the bush's cover.

"What? NO! God no! But you see...he told me he was having flashbacks, and in one of them he was standing in the middle of a destroyed Manhattan with a bunch of teens dressed in armour."

"So?" Hazel asked. She was clearly disappointed by the fact that Reyna wasn't hitting on me.

"So? When is the last time that Manhattan was destroyed?" Reyna said.

"Are you saying he was one of _them_?" Hazel asked, with a bit of a disgusted tone.

I leaned in closer, almost falling over a branch. Reyna looked up in surprise, and I thought that this was the end of me. I waited for her to walk over to where I was hiding and stab me with her bloody red knife, but she just shook her head and continued. "I don't know. But if he is then we are in deep trouble."

_Trouble? Why would we all be in deep trouble if I'm one of them? _ I wondered. And who exactly are _they_ anyways?

"Well why don't you tell Lupa?" Hazel asked.

"Because it might not be true. And if he even suspects him Mr. C will probably give an order to kill him."

"And you care so much because..."

"Because I don't want an innocent's person blood on my hands."

"He won't be the first." Hazel said sarcastically. Reyna gave her an _I'm-going-to-kill-you-if-you-say-another-word_ look and she quickly changes the subject back to me. "Interrogate him then. Maybe he hasn't lost his memory after all." Hazel said.

I shuddered. Whoever _they_ were, the Romans did definitely not like them. Was it possible I was one of them? I kinda doubted that, but still, what if...

I just wished I could remember.

"No. I'm sure he did. No one can fake it that well. Besides, he did get claimed. I'm just afraid that if he's one of them than Jason might be..."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence. A horn blew in the distance and I knew it was time for the tournament. The girls got up and started to walk away, still talking. I waited for them to leave before I dared to even move. My right leg has fallen asleep and it took me some time to wake it up. As soon as Reyna and Hazel were out of sight, I ran towards the coliseum, as always a thousand questions spinning in my head.

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**I know it's not that great but I promise you it will get better. just to answer some of your questions, yes it is HIM. you'll see how he got back later. REVIEW PLEASE!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

That night I lay in bed, images of the day flashing through my head. The Vulcan kids finished my armour for me, and it was amazingly light compared to the one I used till now. It now lay on the bed beside mine, glimmering wickedly in the pale moonlight. Yes, my armour was definitely the best thing that happened tonight. Apart from that, everything else was terrible. Starting with me being so distracted during the tournament that I nearly got incinerated by a chimera.

Turns out that wasn't the worst part. The most dreadful part was the sacrifice. Before dinner on Friday night, a selected camper would kill a baby lamb and offer it as a sacrifice to the gods. It was supposed to be very sacred and spiritual, but to be honest the only thing I could think of was that I would never eat lamb again. The sacrifice also made me lose my appetite, so I ended up not having dinner and my stomach was not happy about it.

And of course there were Reyna and Jack. I didn't know whether what I saw of Jack were flashbacks or visions, but I couldn't help feeling like I already knew him from somewhere. And finally, there was the conversation I overheard earlier in the woods. Something about me possibly being one of _them._

This was so overwhelming it made my head spin just to think of it. So I blocked out all my thoughts and focused on the water dripping from the fountain. Slowly, I fell asleep. My dreams were filled with flying lambs and creepy monsters that called me one of them.

The next three days were a blur. By then I have gotten used to my schedule, and was actually starting to enjoy camp, just like Bobby said I would. I didn't even remember about that huge test of mine until the night before when Reyna came by to wish me luck. Lupa ordered to meet her inside the dining pavilion at 5am sharp. I was hoping I could at least get a good night's sleep, but no such luck. Not only could I not fall asleep, but as soon as I did I had nightmares about what my test might be, and they weren't pretty. Mainly, they evolved me dying in some very painful way. Just as I started to fall into a quiet sleep my alarm rang. I groaned, and got out of bed, tripping over myself a thousand times as I made my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, put on a fresh pair of clothes, packed up my bag and headed out the door. I had a feeling that I was not going to be coming back to this cabin for quite a while.

As I cut through the damp field I couldn't help but feel sad. Just as I started to feel accepted I had to leave camp to go on some stupid test I wasn't even sure I would come back from. The pavilion cast a huge shadow over the lake. I climbed up the hill and walked into the empty pavilion. My footsteps echoed loudly as I made my way past the dining tables. At the far end of the room, 3 figures waited for me, their faces hidden in the shadows.

I stopped and knelled in front of them, just at the edge of the shadow. I could tell that one of the figures was Lupa, but I could not make out who the other two were.

"Rise Perseus, son of the sea god." Lupa's powerful voice ordered from the shadows. Awkwardly, I got up. Lupa walked out of the shadows and stood right in front of me. Her yellow eyes stared back at me without blinking.

"Today, I offer you a quest to prove that you are a worthy warrior."

"Offered, you mean I have a choice?" I interrupted. I know it was impolite, but I was to shaken to really care.

Lupa smiled coldly. "There is always a choice." She said, "If you succeed, you shall become one of us and will be treated like a real hero. If not, we will have to ask you to leave or kill you. This is a camp for heroes, and those who are not worthy of barring the name of their parents do not deserve to stay."

"What will I have to do?" I asked.

"You must travel south, to the land of the pharaohs. In your bag you have a map. Once you get there, the map will show you the approximate location of Atalanta's golden apples. You must find all three and bring them back within the next two weeks. If don't succeed..."

I nodded. I knew what she meant.

Do you accept the challenge Perseus?" she asked quietly.

I stared back at her, unsure what to say. I could of course say _no thanks, see you later_, but even if I did, where would I go? I thought about my dream of Hera, about my flashbacks, about Reyna. If there was any way for me to get my memories back, it was by going on this quest. I looked into Lupa's eyes and for a second, I thought I saw pity. I wondered how many heroes that she trained have perished. Lupa may be strict, but I knew that deep down she cared. She believed in everyone, even in me. I cleared my throat and said as clearly as I could, "I accept!"

My voice echoed loudly through the pavilion. Lupa nodded. "Then it's time for you to consult the oracle." She said.

The oracle? I didn't know the camp had one. Then again, what didn't this camp have? Lupa stood and gestured for me to follow her. She walked me to the altar, and I noticed that there was another figure sitting by the fire. _That's strange, _I thought, _I don't remember seeing her._

The figure stood. It was a woman. She was wearing a log white dress, held up at the waist by a thin golden belt. She had no jewelery except for a thin golden chain around her neck. I couldn't really tell how old she was, her hair was silver but her face didn't have a single wrinkle. She was very tall and elegant, almost like a model. Her eyes were soft and looked a thousand years old.

I found myself starring at her and quickly looked away.

"Hello young hero." She said. Her voice was strong, but at the same time smooth as silk

"I am the oracle, speaker of prophecies and the eyes of the future. Come up hero, and state your desire."

I swallowed. "I want to know my future." I said. The oracle sighted and closed her eyes. The fire behind her blazed brighter than ever and turned a deep shade of purple. Her figure began to shimmer, and when she opened her eyes again, they were glowing.

"_You have a long journey ahead of you."_ She said. Her voice was so hypnotizing I had to bury my nails into my palm to stay focused.

"_You will travel the land of the dead in search of what you seek. _

_To get what you want, the strong must combine with the weak. _

_Many obstacles await you along your path._

_You will meet old enemies, and feel their wrath. _

_In the end, you will find what you were sent to find._

_But what you care for most you will leave behind."_

She closed her eyes again, and everything went back to normal. Her figure stopped shimmering, and the fire shrank back and turned to its usual color. When she opened her eyes, it was like nothing happened. Lupa nodded and walked back to where we were standing before. I glanced back at the oracle, but she wasn't there anymore. Confused, I walked back to Lupa.

"What did all of it mean?" I asked, "What's the land of the dead? And why would I leave something I care about behind?"

Lupa sighted. "I don't know." She said, "Prophesies are never clear. But one thing is sure; your quest is not going to be an easy one, which is why you will be allowed to companions."

"Companions?" I asked

"Yes. And I already have two demigods who have offered to accompany you." With that she nodded and the two people who were standing in the shadows (I have completely forgotten about them) stepped out. I gasped. It was Reyna and Jack.

Reyna walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Will you accept our help Percy?" she asked pleadingly.

I looked over at Jack. He gave me a weak smile.

"But," I shocked out, "This is dangerous. You might not come back."

"We know." Jack said. His voice was very firm and I knew that there was no way he was being left behind.

I looked at both of them. They were the only people I really knew at this camp. And although I was mad at them for hiding something from me, the last thing I wanted was for them to get hurt because of me. Then again, they were the only people I knew.

"Do you accept their help?" Lupa asked.

"Well, I don't believe I have much of a choice." I replied. Reyna smiled.

"Then it's time for you to go." She said firmly. She walked us out of the pavilion towards the forest. Jack, Reyna and I followed close behind. We came to the edge of the forest, and Lupa turned around to face us.

"This is as far as I'll go." She said. "From now one, your journey has officially begun."

"So that's it?" I asked, "We don't even know where to go."

"Beyond these mountains lies the city of Saint Francisco. There, you must get aboard the flight 815 to Madrid. From there, you are on your own."

"But we can't just get onto a plain." I said. Reyna shot me a warning look.

"Do you think I am dumb demigod?" Lupa asked menacingly.

"No." I mumbled. I could feel my neck turning bright red as Lupa stared at me, her yellow eyes glowing like fire.

"You each have a ticket in your bags, as well as passports, some money and fake ideas."

"I'm sorry." I said. Lupa's expression softened.

"Well then. You must be on your way if you do not wish to miss the plain. It leaves at 5:45pm so you don't have any time to spare. Good luck demigods, and may the Gods be with you."

She turned around and walked back towards the camp. I looked back at my companions. Reyna looked worried. Her hand was gripping the hilt of her knife so hard her fingers turned white. Jack was starring of into the woods, his thoughts miles and miles away.

"Well," I said, "guess it's time for us to go."

They nodded but didn't move. That's when I realized something, the quest was mine. They were waiting for me to lead them!

I swallowed. I tried to look as confident as I could as I stepped into the woods, my friends following close behind.

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**btw, one of my readers has critisized me on the fact that Percy got claimed again. he/she said that demigods can only be claimed once and that's it. I personally don't rememmber it beeing mentioned in the book, but if you guys agree then I'll change it.**

**Write back with your opinion ASAP! thanks! :)  
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	8. Chapter 8

**hey guys! sorry it took so long, I needed some inspiration! anyways, here goes the next chapter. please read and REVIEW!

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Chapter 8

That day was probably the longest day of my life. We walked for hours, neither of us saying a word. We have passed the woods (with almost no monster encounters), and now stood before the great mountains. They looked tall and menacing, like soldiers, guarding whatever lay ahead.

Jack was the first one to notice the spring, and we all rushed to it to refill our water bottles. The woods were scary, but they were still on camp property. Whatever was waiting for us ahead was a thousand times more dangerous and deadly.

"So" asked Jack, "where to now?"

"Um..." I wasn't sure how to reply. All I knew that San Francisco was dead ahead, but we couldn't really walk straight through the mountains and I wasn't sure if being a son of Neptune came with a built in GPS. Sadly I doubted it.

"We must keep moving!" Reyna said, "Our flight leaves at 5:45 which gives us 9 ½ hours to get there."

"May I ask where exactly are we going?" Jack wondered.

"Well, the prophecy said that we shall go to the land of the dead, whatever that means." Reyna replied.

"Is there even a land of the dead in Spain?" I asked.

"No, however Lupa did say something about the land of the pharaohs, and if that's what I think it is then the land of the dead can be Giza." Reyna remarked.

"Giza?" Jack raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that in like...Egypt?"

"Precisely."

"But then why sent us to Madrid?"

"Does it look like I know?"

"Hey, wow, chill you guys!" I said, "There's no use arguing about it."

"Actually, there is since we kinda have to know where to go." Reyna retorted.

I looked at Jack for support but he just nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, we have a map right?" I asked. They both nodded.

"And it will show us the location of the apples as soon as we get there?" they nodded again.

"Well then stop arguing and let's move it!" I said and walked first toward a small path on the mountain slope. Reyna gave me an unhappy look, but I knew she would follow.

I reasoned that we weren't the first demigods leaving camp; therefore the trail might have been made by all the campers who walked here and will lead us straight to San Francisco. However, within half an hour the trail ended. We kept going though, and within the next hour we were absolutely and inarguably lost. Finally, when we came back to the tree we've just rested by twenty minutes ago (I know because Reyna dropped a wrapper there) I lost it.

"Why do all the gods hate me?" I screamed, hitting the tree as hard as I could. Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice the bug until it buried its pincers deep into my palm. I howled in pain and tried shaking it off. It took me a minute or so, but the bug finally let go and landed in the bushes. It made a weird sound that I guess was supposed to be menacing before disappearing under a rock.

"Are you ok?" Reyna asked and I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm fine." I mumbled. My palm has turned red and was starting to inflate. _Note to self_ I thought, _don't touch unknown insects_

"Let's keep going, shall we?" I groaned pulling my hand away from her.

"Fine, but this time I lead." Reyna said. I didn't reply. Instead, I started to follow her. After another 4 hours of walking we stumbled up another hillside and there, right beneath us, was the city of San Francisco.

"Whoa!" I hear Reyna whisper under her breath. And I've got to admit, the sight was pretty amazing. I've never seen that many tall buildings, at least not that I could remember. It was starting to get dark, and the city was beginning to come to life. The signs glowed with all sorts of neon colours. The windows of houses lit up, and the city looked like it was invaded by a swarm of fireflies. It was breathtaking!

We ran down the slope as fast as we could, tripping over loos rocks and roots. Jack had to catch me twice before I went rolling down the hill. At last, we have completed the first, maybe not so significant, but still very first part of our quest.

"Well, that was easy enough." I said as we hopped into a cab, on our way to the airport. "Perhaps the rest of the quest won't be as hard."

"Perhaps." Jack said thoughtfully. Boy were we wrong!

The airport was a small but somehow elegant building, with tall columns and huge glass windows. We still had an hour till our flight, so we decided we might as well get some food. I haven't realized how hungry I was until I swallowed two whole burgers, a large portion of fries, a slice of pizza, and a triple fudge ice-cream and flushed it all down with a can of soda. Jack was just finishing his caramel Mocha when they announced our flight. I suddenly began to feel very nervous. I didn't remember ever being on a plane, but I had a sudden feeling that the air was like a restricted zone for me. Some part of me was yelling for me to run and get the hell out of here, but I told it to eff off and followed my friends aboard flight 815. Maybe I should have listened to my other part.

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**that's it! i know it's short, but i promise i'll make the next one longer. again, please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**hey guys! i know it took a while, but here it is.**

**btw: i know that most of you have been wondering why Percy is not invincible anymore but you'll have to keep reading to find out!

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Chapter 9

The whole flight I was arguing with my inner self while clenching the seat as tightly as I could. The sky was clear when we took off, but it was now stormy and thunder boomed somewhere in the distance. I regretted eating so much, because my stomach now felt like a swarm of bees was buzzing around inside of me. Reyna was curled up in her seat, fast asleep, with her head on my lap. I figured she didn't mean it but I didn't have the heart to wake her up so I just tried not to blush too much when Jack gave me his ultimate raised eyebrow look. I tried falling asleep but I couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes, thunder boomed and eventually I just gave up and stared at the ceiling.

Jack was leaning his head against the seat, but his eyes were wide open as he looked out the small window. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.

"So, um...you can't sleep either?" I asked. He just gave me a blank stare in return.

"Right! So um..." I sounded so stupid I wished the floor could just open up and I could fall out, right down towards the Atlantic Ocean.

"Look, I know you want to ask me something, so go ahead." He finally said.

"I was just wondering if I've ever seen you before, you look somewhat familiar."

"I've never seen you before our training lessons. Maybe you've got me confused with someone else?"

"Maybe." I replied, although I wasn't so sure. There was just something so familiar about him, if only I could place what.

After a short moment I finally decided to break the awkward silence that fell between us. "So anyways," I said, trying to change the subject, "who's you godly parent?"

He gave me a frowning look before replying, "Mercury."

"Oh. And your mom, I mean...who is she in the human world?"

"No one."

"What do you mean? She's not...dead, is she?"

"Just leave it alone, okay Percy?" he said. I guess he didn't mean to sound aggressive, but his tone kind of scared me. "I'm tired" he added after an uncomfortable silence. He turned away but I knew he wasn't asleep. His shoulders were slightly moving so I figured he must be crying. I felt really bad; I should have just left him alone. We spent the rest of the night in silence, me staring at the wall, Reyna curled up on the seat and Jack, silently crying by the window.

The next morning wasn't any better. I knew by now that most demigods, me included, had Dyslexia and ADHD. I didn't really have to worry about it at camp, but after a few hours of sitting in a small plane seat my ADHD was seriously starting do kick in. I moved around uneasily, which woke Reyna up. She turned all red when she realized she was sleeping on my laps and ran to the restroom, mumbling some lame excuse. Jack asked the waitress for a magazine and began flipping through it aimlessly. He mentioned nothing about our last night's conversation, but I figured he was still upset so I left him alone. The flight attendants served breakfast, and one of them gave me such an evil look my blood turned cold. For a second, her eyes seemed to glow with a demonic fire and her skin turned pale but then she smiled and it was just a pretty stewardess. Still, there was something about her that was definitely not normal. "Hey, Jack." I whispered.

He turned around so that he can face me.

"I think one of the flight attendants is a monster."

"Maybe, I doubt she'll attack on the plane though, but we'll have to keep a lookout when we land." He replied. I nodded. My appetite was suddenly gone so I pushed the plastic plate as far away from myself as I could. Reyna came back and sat down in her seat without saying a word. I told her about the monster but she just shook her head.

Finally, the pilot announced that we will be landing within twenty minutes. I was getting restless. I even forgot about being scared until thunder boomed so loud the plane shook. I fell back into my seat and gripped the handles as tightly as I could. Reyna gave me an odd look, but I ignored her.

At last, the plane hit the ground and bounced up once before steadying itself. We waited for the seat belt sign to turn off before getting up and collecting our insignificantly small luggage. My legs were numb and shaky from sitting so long. I wished I could run down the aisle, but there were way to many people. At the exit, two flight attendants were wishing us a good time in Madrid. Obviously, one of them was the evil one. She looked at me as if I was food, before hissing under her breath: "hope you enjoy your stay." Her eyes twinkled with pleasure, and I felt a shudder run down my back. I gestured to the others to follow and we hurried to get of the bloody plane.

We ran through the terminals, hurrying to get away from the monster stewardess. Sadly, we had to wait to pass the passport control, and we could see her in the crowd. Before we could run, she looked right at me and smiled.

A bunch of angry comments raised from the crowd as we pushed the people aside, the demon right on our heels. By the time we reached the baggage claim, it was too late.

"Going somewhere sweethearts?" I heard from behind. We whipped around. The monster was standing right behind me, flanked by two other flight attendants. She looked beautiful, and despite of myself I couldn't look away.

"I'm sorry but you are going to have to come with us." she said in a fake-sweet voice.

"I'm going nowhere with you." Reyna replied angrily.

"Come now, we don't want anyone to get hurt, do we?" she asked, her eyes no longer human. She reached to grab Reyna's arm, and instantly I pulled out Riptide and swung at the creature.

She hissed, and as she pulled her bleeding arm away she started to shift. Blood drained from her face, her teeth turned to fangs, her eyes and hair were on fire. Before I could recover she kicked me with her left leg, or should I say donkey's hoof?

"Perseus Jackson" she snapped, "We meet again."

"W—what?" I stammered.

Behind me I could hear people screaming. One of the monsters turned around, ready to charge, but Jack tackled it from behind and they went stumbling to the floor. Reyna was desperately trying to keep the other monster away, slashing and stabbing with her knife that was now pulsating with red energy.

"What a shame," the ex-flight attendant laughed, "poor kid doesn't even remember who he is. But we know, don't we Tammi?"

"Oh yes my lady!" the other one snarled. She was getting up, and at her feet I could see Jack, struggling to rise. The monster bared its teeth and turned back to finish him off. Anger boiled inside of me as I raised Riptide and charged at the monsters. I stabbed the first one in the chest, but instead of vaporizing she erupted in a column of fire. I've never heard of monsters doing that, but there was no time to think it through. I charged at Tammi and was about to stab her in the back when suddenly someone grabbed my hair from the behind and pulled me down. Riptide fell out of my hands. The monster that I just "killed" was now standing over me, fangs bared, and I was defenseless. I knew Riptide would eventually return to me, but by then I would be long gone.

"Now young hero," she snared, "how about that kiss? You still owe me one."

"I—I just killed you. You're...dead." I croaked.

"Dead? Ha, I think not." She smirked. "Has last time not taught you anything about _empousai_?"

She leaned in towards me. I fought back as hard as I could, but her whole weight was on me and I couldn't shake her off. Just as her fangs were inches from my bare neck, she suddenly let out a little gasp and exploded into a shower of gold dust. I looked up and there was Reyna, her red knife in hand, face covered in ash.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Ya, thanks so much." I answered spitting out the remains of the monster from my mouth. I looked around me. The people were standing around us with dazed expressions, as if in a trance. However, some of them appeared to already be coming out of it. I figured they would be after us as soon as they recover from...whatever they were recovering from.

"We need to leave," I yelled, "NOW!"

That's when I heard a low moan. Jack was on the ground, blood pouring from his left shoulder. I knelled down beside him and pulled some ambrosia from my bag. He swallowed it through coughs, and the wound began to instantly heal.

"Can you move?" I asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

I grabbed his right arm and pulled him up. Jack instantly turned pale, but he managed to remain standing.

"We seriously have to go." Reyna urged. And she was right. All around us, people were coming back to reality. One of the security officers was already heading our way. We picked up our bags and headed for the exit as fast as we could. We ran out of the airport and caught the first cab that passed. I had no clue where to go; we weren't really prepared for this.

"Could you get us to the nearest motel please?" Reyna asked.

"No comprendo English." The cab driver replied. We looked at each other helplessly. _Great, _I thought, _just perfect!_

"Puede hacernos el motel más cercano, por favor?" Jack suddenly verbalized. **(got to admit it's a cool word)**

Reyna and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Muy bien. que será de 10 euros, señor" the driver replied. The engine roared to life just as a group of security officers ran out of the airport, and we took off down the streets of Madrid.

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**so...what did you think? good? bad? review please! **


	10. Chapter 10

**hey everyone! sorry it too so long, but I had A LOT of work :(**

**anyways, here's the next chapter. please read and REVIEW!

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**

The _Boenos Noche_'s motel was a small building with a low ceiling and walls that used to be white. We paid the cab driver, and went to check in. We were kind of low on money, so we could only afford one small room for the three of us. And when I say small, I mean _really_ small. The type that has only one bed, a chair, a table, one bathroom and bright green curtains. We took turns in the shower, and once we were all fresh and clean we sat around the table, Lupa's map right in front of us.

"Why hasn't the location appeared?" Jack wondered.

"Because," Reyna rolled her eyes, "Lupa said it will show the location when we get to the land of the pharaohs."

"Which means we have to go to Egypt?" I wondered.

"No, to Antarctica. Any other brilliant questions Sherlock?" Reyna rolled her eyes again, and gave me the 'can't-believe-you're-so-dumb' look. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but um..."Jack didn't have time to finish. Just then, the glass exploded, showering little sparkly drops down on us. I jumped up and pulling my lethal pen from my pocket. Someone was trying to climb through the window, someone who was definitely _not_ human. The figure dropped onto the floor, and got tangled up in the green curtain. Reyna was on it at once.

"Wait, no..." it shrieked as I pulled the curtain off its head. Behind me, I heard a little gasp. Jack's back was against the wall, his face twisted in a terrified expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked confused. He just stared blankly at the creature that was now struggling to free itself from the curtain. Finally, it stood up and I was able to see it properly for the first time. It was a boy, at least the top half of him was. But where his legs should be...where his _legs_ should be...there were goat hoofs.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, "I didn't mean to break in like that."

"You're...a _faun_?" Reyna shook her head in disbelief.

"What? Is there something wrong with fauns?" he asked, clearly insulted. Then he looked at Jack. For a second, he seemed confused, but he just shook his head and looked away. Jack still looked terrified.

"You...you..." he murmured under his breath.

"Alright, what's going on? I demand and explanation!" Reyna stepped in between them and looked from Jack, to the faun, to me, to Jack again.

"I—never mind." Jack was finally snapping out of it. His cheeks flooded with color and he took a quick shaky breath.

"What's wrong with you?" Reyna looked at him as if he was an alien.

"Nothing. I just...I thought it was someone I knew." He said, looking away. Reyna was about to ask something else, but then changed her mind.

"I'm sorry." The faun muttered again.

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"That's the thing, I have no freaking clue. One moment everything's fine, the next I wake up in the middle of a park, with no clue of who I am and how I got there."

Reyna and I exchanged looks.

"And when did this happened?" she asked.

"About 4 days ago."

Now it was my turn to be shocked.

Jack stood aside from us, examining the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Four days ago?" I asked. The faun nodded.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Reyna gave me a questioning look.

"I'm afraid so." I replied.

"Hey, whoa, wait a second." The faun said, "What are you all thinking off? I didn't mean to break in alright? But I had no choice, the police is after me and if the find me I'm DEAD! They'll lock me up in a zoo and make experiments on me, and poke me with needles and..."

"Whoa, chill there, goat boy. We're not gonna let the police have you. Besides, they'll probably lock us up to if they find out who we are." Reyna said.

The faun gave her a weak smile.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Friends!" I agreed. I reached out to shake his hand, and suddenly there he was, except we were on an island and he was, for some strange reason I ignored, dressed in a long wedding dress that was clearly too big on him. I blinked in surprise. The faun was giving me a questioning look. We were back in the motel room, and he was dressed in his normal torn shirt and jeans that went up to where a human knee would usually be. No wedding dress, no island, _nothing_. _That's it,_ _I really need a vacation_ I thought.

All of a sudden, there was a banging on our door.

"Abran! Abrir ahora, es la policía"

"Oh shit!" Reyna cursed in Latín while I tried to shove the faun into the closet.

"Tienes cinco segundos antes de que tenemos que forzar la entrada de uno, dos, tres ..."

"One second!" I called. Jack was still on the other side of the room, starring at his feet.

"Jack!" I yelled, "Come and help us!" to late.

The door burst open and five police man ran in, pointing guns at our chests.

"Drop your weapons!" One of them yelled in a perfect English, "Hands behind your backs. NOW!" wait, _English?_

"You speak english?" I asked.

"Well of course we do, Perseus Jackson. How could we not!" _Perseus Jackson? _ Wait a second…

"_maledicam__in infernum__"_ Reyna gasped, "Percy! Watch out, the first one, he's a..."

"A manticore!" I finished for her. I knew him, I was sure I did.

"Do you not remember me Perseus? Have you such short memory that you forget even your enemies, _hero?_"

"Should I know you?" I asked. I could see that Reyna was slowly creeping her way around, trying to blow a strike from the side. Her knife was in her hand, glowing in the dim light.

"I would hope so. I followed you all the way here from Manhattan. And now, it is time for you to face your doom"

I looked over at Reyna. Her knife was raised, inches from the manticore's head.

"Oh no you don't!" he roared. His tail moved with lightning speed and Reyna went crashing into the opposite wall. I could hear her breath escape her with a loud _woosh_, and she slid down to the floor.

I felt something move behind me, and turned around just in time to see a huge fist swing at me. The other police man who were with the manticore seemed to finally remember they can fight (not that it was a good thing), and were now chagrin at us. I ducked another punch and slashed my sword across someone's face. The creature roared in pain and reached out to cover its single eye. _A Cyclops_ I gasped. Before it could react, I reached out and stabbed it right through the chest.

_Ouch!_ He said and exploded into a shower of dust.

I took a quick peek around me. Reyna was fighting off two Cyclops at the same time, while the manticore charged towards Jack. Then something happened, something that was so strange even the Cyclops forgot to fight. Just as the manticore was about to draw a thorn through Jack's chest, it suddenly stopped. His tail froze halfway through, never blowing the strike.

"Y—you." he mumbled.

I stared in shock as the manticore lowered his tail.

"How...how's this...this is isn't possible!" he croaked. His expression went from fear, to anger, to fear, to surprise, to I don't even know what. Jack gave the manticore a murderous look, and then suddenly jumped at him with a loud yell. There was a faint yelp. Jack stepped back. The manticore looked down to the hilt of the sword, sticking out of his chest.

"Why? I thought..." he never finished the sentence. Jack pulled out his sword and the manticore collapsed into a pile of ashes. The room was dead silent.

"Well?" one of the Cyclops asked, "What are you waiting for?"

His partner gave him a pitiful look before running out the door. The last Cyclops looked around. Realizing that he was the last one, he ran after his buddy, but collapsed halfway there with Reyna's knife sticking out of his back. Silence. Reyna picked up her knife and turned to face Jack.

"I think it's time you start talking." She said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, but I could hear dread in his voice.

"What the hell was that? First the faun, now the manticore. WHO ARE YOU?"

"Listen, I don't know." He said, backing away, "maybe he confused me with someone."

"I was ready to buy that with the faun but now..."

"Alright," Reyna's knife was now under his bare neck, "I'll tell you. Just put your knife down!"

Reyna hesitated, but then put it away. She didn't back off though, so Jack had to tell his story with his back pressed against the wall.

"The manticore, he was the one who killed my escort. The faun, he looks a bit like him, and I first I thought it was a ghost. But the manticore was aiming for me, and he never got a chance to see who he killed because Irving killed him first. He probably thought I died, so he was surprised to see me alive." He took a quick breath. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true." He added.

Reyna gave him a suspicious look, but finally backed off. Jack wiped the swat of his forehead. I noticed that Reyna's eyes were misty when she looked away, and her expression was a bit confused, as if she just came out of a trance.

"We should get out of here." She finally said. "The security guards will be here soon."

As if on cue, we heard loud footsteps resonate in the hall.

"Let's go!" Jack urged.

"Wait!" I ran up to the faun that was standing aside uncomfortably, chewing on an aluminum can (where did it come from?). "Come with us." I pleaded. "We could use your help."

He stared back at me with confusion.

"Why would you want me, I didn't even help you."

"You can't stay here. It's too dangerous for you. Besides, I know how you feel; I've lost my memory to."

"Really?" the faun looked hopeful now. I tried not to be insulted by that, after all i to was happy that i wasn't the only one.

"Yes, come on."

The footsteps were growing louder by the second.

"Come on you guys, we have to GO!" Reyna yelled. We didn't have to be told twice. I grabbed the faun's hand and dragged him towards the shattered window. Jack and Reyna were already waiting outside. I pushed him through and jumped out after him. Just before falling, I looked back, and caught a glimpse of something that instantly made me wish I hadn't looked back. Flanked by security guards was my friend the demon flight attendant.

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**so that's it, hope you liked it. in case you haven't guessed, yes the faun is Grover! YAY! they didn't mention him in the lost hero, so I figured I would add him. before you can comment; they still have the empathy link, meaning if one of them dies, so does the other. thus, _logically _if one looses his memory, the other should to! :P**

***remember to review this chapter! thanks!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**here it is, chapter 11 at last! sorry it took so long, but I fanfic was hating me, and then I was on vacation, and then I had a lot of work and yeah, you get it. plus I am currently going through a Sherlock Holmes up-session, and my free time mostly involved re-reading Sir. A. Conan Doyle's masterpiece. **

**Also, thanks to all of those wonderful readers who commented on my story, it gives me a purpose to continue writing. otherwise it's like trying to talk to a wall. to those who don't comment, I have only one thing to say; I hope u had a really good reason not to. -_-**

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Chapter 11

I hit the ground with a loud thud. Something hit me in the head and I yelped in pain. A hand grabbed me from behind. Instinctively, I reached for Riptide.

"Whoa, chill man! It's just me." Jack cried. I was about to apologize but he was already running. Behind me, I could hear strange bubbling noises, but I didn't stay to find out what they were.

We raced down long, narrow alleys, illuminated by the feeble light of the rising sun. I don't know how long we ran for, but by the time we reached the market my legs were already aching.

"Spread out!" I heard Jack yell before he darted to a nearby stand. Despite the early hour, the market was already full of loud costumers, searching for the right merchandise. I did a quick 360 of the area and saw that security guards (most of who were shaping into monsters) were right on our heels. Without a second thought, I jumped over one of the stands, willing the jars of water to explode and using the force to propel me forward. The owner threw curses like daggers in my direction, but I ignored him and kept running, dodging people and stands as I went. it was like going trough Daedalus's Labyrinth. Everywhere I turned, a new barrier would appear out of nowhere. Once I had to crawl under the legs of a group of very angry people who were huddled around some fire "breathing guy. I was half way expecting him to morph into a hydra, but I didn't stay to find out.

On and on I ran, squeezing past the people as they shouted at me abusively. Too late did I remember to look back and see if my friends were following. Although I probably wouldn't have seen them anyways, not with all these angry faces in my way.

In case you have never visited a Spanish markets, let me tell you; they are _huge!_ By the time I was halfway through my lungs were on fire. I had to lean against a nearby stand to remember how to breathe_. Maybe if we get out of this alive we can come back to shop for souvenirs?_ Ha, in my dreams! Just as I was beginning to hope that I had lost the monsters, surprise-they found me.

"Hello Perseus!" I whirled around to find myself facing the- you guessed it- evil flight attendant. I tried to back away, but her eyes seemed to be hypnotizing me. Her shape was changing to one of a beautiful woman. _She's a monster_ I told myself, _monster!_

I blinked just in time to dodge a clawed hand rushing at me, the monsters sharp talons just barely touching my skin. Riptide was already in my hand, but the empousas was just toying with me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see a group of monsters dragging something into a side alley. My heart fell when I realized it wasn't something, it was _someone._ REYNA!

I swung my weapon. The demon just smirked and disappeared in a blazing column of flames (typical).

"Jack! Guys, where are you?" I yelled, running towards the alley where they took Reyna. No answer. I couldn't take on so many monsters at the same time, then again I couldn't let Reyna die either. Suddenly, the air was pierced with a blood curdling scream, coming from an old warehouse just down the alley. Without further due, I raced down towards it.

Obviously, the door was locked; I mean come on-how easy would that be? So I was forced to climb in through the window the old fashioned way, hoping against all odds to take them by surprise. As soon as I was in, something hard hit me on the head. I lost my balance and landed flat on my face. _Way to go with the surprise attack_ I told myself as I peeled myself from the floor. I side-stepped another blow and pulled out Riptide. Unfortunately, as soon as the first monster disintegrated somebody tackled me from behind. Riptide fell out of my hand. My arms were pinned behind my back, and something sharp hit my left side, causing me to cry out. I kicked and screamed, but whoever was holding me was to strong. Before long I was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room. Behind me, I was aware of somebody moaning quietly.

"Reyna?" I whispered.

"Percy? What the Hades are you doing here? Where are Jack and the faun?"

"I couldn't find them. Are you o...ouch!" My mouth filled up with blood, my jaw still aching from the punch.

"No talking!" barked a harsh voice. I spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva just to get another punch in the stomach. If I had had breakfast this morning it probably would have ended up on the carpet. Instead I just doubled over on my chair trying to catch my breath.

"Perseus Jackson!" I looked up to see the she-demon smiling at me. It took all my willpower not to look at her. "Where are the rest of your friends?"

"No clue." I tried to put all the hate and rage I could into those words, but given the fact I just lost a tooth it came out more like "'O cvue.".

"Oh well, it doesn't matter. They will be dead soon enough. That is...if they aren't already."

I just stared back in response.

"So, Percy, I see you haven't changed. You're still so easy to manipulate! It's pathetic really."

"I am not."

"Oh really? Then tell me Percy, why did you come here by yourself? You knew this was a trap. Yet, you still came to save a girl you don't even know! Like I said, you didn't change at all."

"Touch her and I'll..."

"You will what?" To be honest, I had no response to that.

"We know of Hera's plans. And we are here to stop them." She suddenly said, totally of topic. Hera's plans, really? I didn't even know what she meant. Could it possibly be related to my dream? This was too much; my brain could not take another moment of this. Why did it all have to be so F%^* complicated?

The demon smiled, revealing her Hollywood-white teeth, and stepped away. Behind me, Reyna moaned again.

"Are you alright?" I murmured. No reply.

"Any last prayers to say to your daddy?" asked a well to familiar voice. Can you fancy whose it was? If you guessed manticore you are correct!

"Whoa, you guys reform so fast!" I exclaimed.

"Hades no longer has control over the dead. Soon, every soul shall rise back to the earth, and your puny little world will be done with." He hissed.

"Not if we can help!" the manticore turned around just too instantly be hit with a small fireball. He howled in pain and disintegrated. I gasped. Right there in front of us stood Jack and the faun. Jack was armed with his sword and a flaming, hand-made torch. The faun was armed with an incredibly large amount of sharp, metal objects (which I later found out were soaked with gasoline) that he was now lighting with Jack's torch and whipping at the monsters. The warehouse was officially a bedlam. The empousas hissed "traitor" in ancient Greek and charged at Jack. Meanwhile, the pile of ashes began to move, and soon enough the manticore was as good as new, just with more rage in his eyes.

"Oh Zeus!" exclaimed the faun, "already?"

"Don't kill them!" I yelled, "It's no use! They reform to fast."

To prove my point, the other piles of ash were also starting to come together, and we were back to where we started.

"No freaking Duh!" if I hadn't been strapped to a chair while my friends were fighting for their lives I would have found a sarcastic goat funny, but not under the present circumstances.

"I have an idea!" Jack screamed, "Hold this." He gave the faun his torch and charged at the manticore.

"You will pay for your treachery." The manticore bellowed.

"Oh shut up you old hedgehog!" Jack yelled back. This was greeted by a volley of spikes. Jack dodged them with ease, and before the manticore could react Jack came up behind him and grabbed on to his tail. Outraged, the manticore swung upward, and Jack flew off to the ceiling. At the last second, he seized one of the horizontal planks and hung on for dear life. Beneath him, the manticore was already preparing to nail him, and this time there was no way Jack could dodge anything.

"This isn't the end Percy." My head snapped to the right to see the empousas, holding a barely conscious Reyna in her hands.

"No!" I cried, but it was too late. The monster disappeared in hellfire, taking Reyna with her.

Fortunately, the fire burned away my bounds. I jumped up and pulled out my pen. Meanwhile, the manticore was already throwing deadly spikes at Jack. Somehow, he managed to keep his sword, and was now attempting to defend himself why holding on with one hand. From the look of it, he would last about another second or so. The thought of Reyna completely slipped my mind as I let out a battle cry and charged the monster. Riptide cut through his body with as much ease as a knife through butter, and the monster exploded into a shower of dust.

"Percy, get over here and help me!" I head Jack shout for the ceiling. Did I have a choice? Nope! Because just then three monsters charged me at the same time. Luckily, there was an old, dried up sink at the back of the warehouse. With no time to waste, I concentrated on the water. I felt a familiar tug in my guts, and then the pipes exploded, dousing everybody except for me with dirty pipe water. The water gave me strength, and I used it to shoot myself up towards the ceiling like a canon ball. I cough hold of a plank and somehow pulled myself over to Jack (there was not enough room to stand on it).

"So what's your plan?" I asked. I could see that Jack was getting tired, his strength slowly abandoning him. My one magic burst of energy was gone to. Whatever we were doing, we had to do it fast.

"See that net?" he asked. I looked over. Right above the monsters was a huge net. It was either used to hull very heavy objects, or to serve as a trap. Whichever way it looked very strong.

"Yup. Got it!"

We shifted ourselves the best we could to be on either side of the net, swords ready.

"On the count of three." I said, "One, two..."

"Three!" Jack finished and we cut the net loose. It fell slowly at first, but as soon as it was completely free from the planks it descended to the floor with lightning speed and entangled the monsters underneath. We let go of the plank and landed hard beside them. The faun made one long rope out of the shreds of the ones me and Reyna were tied with, and together we did the best we could to secure the net and prevent the monsters from crawling out.

"This is not the end Jackson!" howled the manticore, "The Olympians _will_ be overturned, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"Boy, if I got a nickel every time somebody said that." Jack laughed.

If looks could kill, I bet a fortune the only thing left of Jack would have been a puddle of human waste.

"The Lord should never have trusted you. But I promise that I will personally take you apart first chance I get. I'll—"

His pleasant speech was cut short by a strong kick in the guts. Only later did it occur to me to question why the manticore referred to Jack a a _traitor._

"We better go; the net won't hold them forever." I said.

We locked the warehouse and ran back up the alley. Back in the warehouse, you could still hear the monsters cursing us in any language they knew.

"God, I hate monsters." The faun bleated, "Especially fast-forming ones."

"Same."

"Wait a minute...what happened to Reyna?" Jack's face was torn with worry. I felt a tug of guilt for not remembering her sooner. But what could I do? That..._creature_ took her gods know where.

"Percy?"

"The empousas took her." I said sadly. I watched the faun's smile fade into a horrified expression. "Percy, we have to go save her!" he said.

They both looked at me. This was my call, and I had to choose between my quest and my friend. I remembered what the oracle said; _in the end, you will find what you were sent to find. But what you care for most you will leave behind._ Right now, the thing I cared for most was to find Reyna. But I had a limited time for this quest, and with the monsters rising from their ashes like phoenixes we were sure not going to have any time to spare. I knew she would kill me if I saved her, but honestly, she was one of my only friends. I'm sure you to would be lost in this situation. Friend or quest? Quest or friend?

"Any ideas where the monsters' white house might be?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know." Jack said sadly. "Their last nest was destroyed not so long ago; no way could they have re-built it this fast."

"But we can't just...leave her?" the faun's voice was cracking, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Whether we save her or not, one thing is sure;" Jack remarked, "we must get the hell out of here."

"I'm with Jack on this one." I said. "Faun, I promise, if we get any clues to where they might have taken her, we'll go save her. But for now we have to save ourselves."

He mumbled something like _my ant is sober_.

"What did you say?" Jack questioned.

"My name is Grover."

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**that's it. please review!(puss in boots' eyes)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello to everybody who is still reading this. Before you go hang me from a chandelier, please allow me to bring you my most sincere apologies. ****I shall not humiliate myself with**** explanations, however do keep in mind that all art mustn't be rushed in order to get the best result possible. I wrote as soon as I felt inspired to, and not a moment sooner/later. If you are still willing to follow my story, do not be alarmed by these kinds of nonappearances. **

**And if you are STILL reading this, enjoy the chapter.**

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Chapter 12

Nico Di Angelo was having a, what you would call…_**VERY BAD **_day. Everybody was obsessed with the Argo II, and nobody excluding him and Annabeth even remembered that Percy was still missing. Even Chiron wouldn't mention him anymore. It was almost as if the great hero had never even existed. _Almost, _but not quite.

To topple that, his dad was losing the last bit of control he had over the dead. The once so quiet and peaceful realm was now a complete chaos. Even Manhattan seemed in a better state after the war than the God's kingdom.

Just thinking of the war made Nico wince. Despite what he told the others, he still hasn't gotten completely over it. Every night, the faces of the dead heroes filled his dreams. Their cries made his blood run cold, or…colder than usual. And now that the dead were rising, so were the monsters in Tartarus. Which mean that….Ugh, Nico didn't want to think about it. So he kept marching, correction; _stomping_ towards the cabins when a sudden cry held him back.

"NICO!" With a groan, the son of Hades turned around to face his addresser **(if this is a word)**. Her fire streaked hair had gotten longer over the summer, and her eyes looked wiser. Other than that, it was still the same old Rachel.

"Nico, you've got to come quick! It's VERY important."

"Leave me alone will you, can't you see I'm in no mood for this?"

"But it IS important!" she urged.

Nico understood that there was absolutely no way to get out of this rather unfortunate situation. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." He grumbled. Rachel squealed and ran up the hill towards the big house. For a second Nico considered ditching her, but decided against it. Not like he had anything better to do anyways, given that he wasn't particularly helpful in the construction of the ship. With an annoyed half growl-half moan, Nico climbed the hill after her. Gods, could this day get any worse? He didn't think so.

His mood changed though as soon as he reached the doors and found Mr. D leaning against the railing, a rather disturbed expression on his face.

"Ah, Mr. Di Angelo." he greeted with an unusually un-bored tone. "I believe you have a visitor."

"Ugh, ok." he stammered, not quite picturing what kind of visitor would want to see him. Confused, Nico marched into the house. What he saw next shocked the young demigod more than a blue hippo in a hula skirt would have. Nico's emotionless mask shattered, revealing his tear-filled eyes. His knees buckled. Thankfully, just before he went crashing to the floor, a pair of arms caught him and pulled him into a warm embrace. He felt a soft hand ruffling his hair, something he would never allow under usual circumstances, which these certainly weren't. He looked up into the dark, piercing eyes he thought he would never see again, and suddenly the rest of the world didn't matter. If a chimera came crashing through the wall right now, Nico would pay it as much attention as a rabbit would to a stop sign. Because how could anything else matter when pressed against him, in flesh and blood, radiating with life was Bianca di Angelo?

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**Horribly short, I know. However this wasn't the most important chapter. I just felt inclined to bring someone back, after all the dead ARE rising, and who better deserves this honor that Bianca. Don't be shy to review, however insulting your comments may be. Especially since I am not sure what exactly is going on with the next chapter, and any ideas will be greeted with opened arms and bright smiles. **


	13. Chapter 13

Great warm hello to all those still following my "story". Or rather, to those who WERE following it. For I am delighted to announce that Sir Rick Riordan has at last (some time ago) released the actual version of _The Son Of Neptune. _That being said, I can no longer continue my crappy combination of lame, un-related words I've attempted passed for literature. I retire, and wish you all to enjoy, if you already haven't, sir Riordan's masterpiece. Needless to say I thank those who actually bothered to read and review this.

Peace.


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